I'm done

Moore, OK tornado.
Picture by Basehunters

I wrote a happy post about all the things I cleaned out of my house. I'll publish it another time. It seems inappropriate to brag about my clean basement when so many families in Oklahoma lost their homes yesterday.

It's another sad day in America. Watching parents frantically looking for their children in a school parking lot after the tornado hit, I was reminded of how precious life is. And I'm done.

I'm done telling my son I'm too busy for a hug. No matter what's in my hands, what thought I'm trying to hold onto, or what I'm angry with him about, I'll let it go and give him a hug. He's almost ten years old. Even if nothing bad happens, it won't be long until he's too cool to hug his mother. I need to get all the hugs I can now.

I'm done complaining about little inconveniences. Last night we ran out of propane, the fuel for our stove and hot water heater. We cooked pizza in the barbecue grill. We took fast, cold showers this morning. Otherwise, life went on just fine, and our tank was filled by 8:00 a.m. This was not a crisis worth devoting my energy to. Most of life's inconveniences aren't.

I'm done putting off yoga and meditation for a better time. There is no better time than now. The day my floor is covered with the remains of my roof is the day I can say it's not a good time to unroll my mat. Otherwise, I have no excuse not to practice.

I'm done holding onto things just because I feel I should have them. If I lost everything tomorrow, but had my family, I would be okay. My existence would not be diminished because I didn't have a pile of books, Halloween costumes from 2007 and a fondue pot. (Okay, it would be a little bit diminished without the fondue pot.)

I'm done forgetting that the best thing in life is life itself. Let's live life, right now.